Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood

I had previously read "Nothing to Envy" which I found very engrossing and informative so I looked forward to reading another of Barbara Demicks books. Describing circumstances and events through interviews of families and individuals who have actually lived through those events, offers the reader greater insight and empathy to others, admiration for those who endured and survived,and a sense of emptiness for those who lost their lives and loved ones so randomly. For me, Barbara Demicks' books are thought provoking and not easily forgotten. This book enlightens and informs us about ordinary people and families who were just living their lives and who were caught in a rapidly changing and dangerous situation. I appreciate that the book took many years to conduct interviews and gather information. Highly recommend this book.

The book itself is wise and ripe with good characters that share a deep sense of pride and fear. Having been young during the conflict and witnessing my locals schools adopt Bosnian as a language, the conflict became more mysterious and it's story and history needed to be uncovered. The atrocities are horrendous and little was done to really bring it to justice. This book is a grand first hand view of life in a besieged town. Meeting the people who had nothing and surviving in the ways they did is incredibly humble to read about, but sad that more could and should've been done. If a large scale history is what you're after, his book will offer enough to get started but focuses its energy on bringing the victims to life. I had a problem with some of the word choices that didn't distract the experience but were wrong. Notably is the usage of the term sniper. It's used liberally as if it he best way to describe someone shooting another. It does offer a hint of intimacy, it's not always the best or proper way to describe a machine gunner shooting kids. I will be recommending this book to anyone who wants to know more about the cruelty of war and politics. And also as a way to boast the strength of a unified city.

I was hoping for a narrative nf piece like this to help me learn about this war and it delivered!

I'm very pleased that Barbara Demick's "Logavina Street" got a second life after her brilliant (and brilliantly received) book on North Korea, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea . That book has been a justifiably big smash. Publisher Spiegel & Grau (a Random House imprint) was smart to go back and re-release her 1996 Sarajevo work given Demick's new, higher profile. By all means, fans of Demick's writing should get their hands on this new paperback edition. Her original narrative ends in mid-1995. The new paperback features a new chapter, 'Return to Logavina Street,' which has a 2011 coda to the story. That chapter, plus a new epilogue, bring a new perspective to her work. I especially liked this passage from the 'Return' chapter (about her June 2011 visit): "Since the 90s I have been back to Sarajevo twice, once in 2007 and more recently in 2011. Each time, I was struck by how much it looked and felt the same. Now that I'm living in Asia, I'm accustomed to dynamic cities constantly reinventing themselves. When I leave Beijing for a holiday, I come back to find the building next door demolished and new skyscraper rising in my backyard. Not Sarajevo. The city is timeless, almost immutable. Along the stone alleys of the Bascarsija, the jewellers are tapping away behind shopfronts with the same names: Kasumagic, Cengic. Even the music is the same 1980s technopop. So little has changed on Logavina Street that I can almost navigate my way with my eyes closed." Like in 'Nothing to Envy,' Demick's winning technique is to crystallize the story from the large and complex down to the personal. In the North Korea book, we saw that country and its truths through the eyes of six defectors. Here, we see the Sarajevo siege through the eyes of the residents of one famous street. It's a work that - despite the passage of 17 years - has relevance today with the recent capture and ongoing trials of Radovan Karadzic' and Ratko Mladic'. Moreover, even today, Demick portrays a 'peace' that is shaky at best. She notes that "[e]vents that might lead to another war are easy to imagine: if Republika Srpska tries to secede from Bosnia..." She quotes think tank International Crisis Group's ominous conclusion: "[I]f Srpska's leaders continue driving every conflict with Sarajevo to the brink, as they have done repeatedly to date, they risk disaster. The agility of leaders and the population's patience need only fail once to ignite serious violence."

Nothing to Envy. I would have enjoyed a bit more depth into the belief systems leading to all this conflict rather than so much time spent on the residents on Logavina Street. I learned a great deal about North Korea and its leadership and lifestyle in Nothing to Envy, which I enjoyed immensely. Both books do a wonderful job of speaking to the human character and ability to adapt. Definitely worth the read.

"Logavina Street is a six-block-long history lesson. To know Logavina is to know Sarajevo, and to understand what this city once was and what it has become." For centuries, Sarajevo was a city of Bosniak Muslims, Serbian Orthodox, and Croat Catholics-- almost equal in population and existing in harmony. People often celebrated all the religious holidays and the only way to know who belonged to which ethnic group was their first name. Even after the fall of Yugoslavia resulted in the civil war, residents of Logavina Street refused to see each other as enemies. Author Barbara Demick follows families living on this iconic street as they try to survive the war. She documents their stories of years without electricity, heat and sufficient food. Families moved into the safest interior room of their homes; sitting by a window could be a deadly risk. Through years of shelling and snipers, the people of Logavina persevered. I'm a fan of Demick's work, and I enjoyed this book as much as I hoped I would. I was too young to really remember any coverage of the Bosnian war, and I feel I learned a lot about the topic. Like Demick's other two books, I highly recommend this one.

Names are very confusing. The book gets bogged down in to much detail. Would have liked more background on the atrocities committed on all sides of this atrocious war.

As usual with Demick, a closely-wrought, visceral experience that brings this devastating war into human and heartbreaking focus. Rich in individual quirks. A must read.

História actual de realidades, que nunca deverão ser esquecidas, excelente leitura, aconselho vivamente.

I never get disappointed with Demick’s journalistic acumen.

Extremely accurate and well written account from a survivors stand point. Kudos to the author for the care and detail taken to capture such a tragedy

Great read: very objective, and personable at the same time.